I honestly don't know why people are being so hard on Alena. Yes a 9 on PCS is a bit excessive but am I the only one who thinks she skated fantastically and doesn't know what the rest of you were watching? It's not her fault that none of the other top contenders managed to land all of their jumps/get all level 4's. I'm happy for her; well deserved. If Caro et al had actually delivered I think we could be having a very different conversation, but they didn't. There is no conspiracy that I can see.

I was going to say she was underscored. She deserved first and I think clearly by a few more points over Murkami who is still juniorish and Kostner - she sold the program. If there was any conspiracy it seems it would be anit Russian as Makarova I thought was undermarked. I appreciate Alena tried something different and she sold it. I do think Mao and Carolina will pass her but she could win a medal still.

I don't think Ashley will bomb her long. She is an American who has competed well and with vigour just to get out of Nationals. She will at the very least lay down some triples and a clean enough program to get her some respect.

Ah, Nadine. Nobody but yourself I believe has made pronouncements about the American men "breaking records," especially not in the Ladies thread.

Yes skfan, non-American ladies work just as hard, maybe some even harder. Many of the ladies have top level skills, but in all honesty I must say that Alissa in 16th place is obviously because she didn't land the necessary jump elements -- she's not a technically strong jumper, but she does have the ability to land her jumps, and she is above-average in all other categories. Her spins trump everyone else in this field. It has always been Alissa's up-and-down lack of confidence on her jumps that has caused her problems, not her ability to do the jumps. I agree with the poster who stated that if Alissa miraculously can land everything in her fp and perform up to her ability, she is easily better than at least 9 through 15 place ladies in the sp. If you don't think so, that's your perception. Ashley didn't skate that poorly, and might have been scored a bit higher. Ashley's fp is very competitive with the rest of the top ladies.

You make good points, macy. I'm with you. Altho' I don't like either of Alene's programs this season (bad influence from Nikolai), I do feel that Alene has gotten stronger and stronger over the season, and she has been consistent on her elements all season long. I thought that Alene should have grabbed bronze at last year's World championships and that Carolina should have placed out of the medals there. Alissa also had a fairly good showing at last year's Worlds, but could have done better -- Alissa does not have the greatest rep with the judges b/c of her inconsistency, but they do respect her overall talent.

Re: Lakernik "memo", it has been discussed on other boards -- This is Alexander Lakernik, Chairman of the ISU technical committee. Surely there has already been a thread here too discussing Lakernik's views.

Alissa would do well to remember what she did 3 years ago at Worlds in Los Angeles after a similarly disheartening SP skate left her well out of the last 2 LP groups. With the pressure off, she rebounded quite nicely in the LP to finish 8th in that segment and 11th overall. It was a much deeper field of ladies at that Worlds, being the pre-Olympic season, than Worlds this year, so she has to have hope that if she can muster the same type of performance in the LP here, then a top 10 finish is not out of the realm of possibility.

I'm pleasantly surprised to find that I thought the scoring was pretty fair, compared to previous competitions at least. I hope this is a trend that will continue!

Mao would probably be in first place if she'd only done a double-axel! She's so unstrategic but that's the quality that makes me love her.

Alissa's performance was memorable but for all the wrong reasons. In times like these, I think she should be reminded that it's only figure skating after all, and no one's happiness or well-being is going to be determined by how she skates, and that includes her's.

Well said! I hope none of these ladies place their hope and value in skating placements.

When she saw her scores, she was disappointed, but she sort of brushed it off, like "OK, not my best, but I did OK. Moving on." She did not dwell on them. I think she's already looking forward to the FS and she knows that she has the content to pull off a big score.

Also today, she could have given up after that step out, but she fought for every element. Expect a similar effort on Saturday.

I honestly don't know why people are being so hard on Alena. Yes a 9 on PCS is a bit excessive but am I the only one who thinks she skated fantastically and doesn't know what the rest of you were watching? It's not her fault that none of the other top contenders managed to land all of their jumps/get all level 4's. I'm happy for her; well deserved. If Caro et al had actually delivered I think we could be having a very different conversation, but they didn't. There is no conspiracy that I can see.

Only a bit? everyone else gave her 7. That is outrageous!
She did well, and she got her TES score appropriately, but in what world should her PCS come close to Kostner or Asada? I think she's more or less Ashley but with stronger jumps. Her PCS should be in the 25-26 range.

Alissa would do well to remember what she did 3 years ago at Worlds in Los Angeles after a similarly disheartening SP skate left her well out of the last 2 LP groups. With the pressure off, she rebounded quite nicely in the LP to finish 8th in that segment and 11th overall. It was a much deeper field of ladies at that Worlds, being the pre-Olympic season, than Worlds this year, so she has to have hope that if she can muster the same type of performance in the LP here, then a top 10 finish is not out of the realm of possibility.

I know this is wishful thinking, but with each spot Ashley moves up means one less spot that Alissa has to move up? Can anyone tell me what the combined placement has to be again?

I think Ashley can move up quite a bit from 8th; she's not *that* far behind the other skaters. Let's say she moves up to 5th. Where does Alissa have to place then?

Well, I'm shocked and disappointed with this competition so far. I think the judges have made a couple of scoring mistakes here...

Alena: I'm happy for her for skating so well. She nailed her jumps and delivered her program with a lot of energy...but I disagree with her scores quite a bit. IMO, she should be behind Kanako. Her program lacked choreography and composition entirely...it was mainly hip wiggles and cheesy smiling...I don't know what program the judges were watching. Alena's not a particularly strong LP skater and with the added pressure of being in the lead, I'm doubtful she's going to hold up. Good skate for her but I think she was very over-scored in her PCS. Her score should have been closer to 61 or 62...64 is obscenely excessive.

Kanako: I'm very proud of her! She had the best SP in the competition IMO. Lots of speed, difficulty in the jumps, wonderful choreography, great footwork, good spins and lots of energy and passion. IMO, her score was on point; 62 seemed about right. The problem is that Alena was over-scored which, by comparison, means Kanako was underscored. Given the strength of Kanako's program over Alena's, Kanako should have been first. I hope she has a strong LP b/c it'd be awesome to see her score a top 5 finish here.

Carolina: I expected her to be over-scored here but I'm shocked that her scores were pretty fair. Her 3t-3t was glorious but she blanked out on the 3lp. She's still in a great position to win this thing though. I'm still betting on a 2nd or 1st place finish for her here.

Mao: Again, the gamble for the 3a is too costly. She'd be a lot closer to 1st place if she hadn't gone for that jump. Luckily though, the rest of the program was great. She really performed the program and gave it energy and life. Even with the fall I thought she was lovely. If you add those roughly 4pts she would have earned from a clean 2a she'd be in better position. Still if she delivers her LP well she'll be a threat for gold.

Akiko: I think she may have gotten a bit anxious/excited after nailing the 3-3 and didn't focus enough for the lutz. *facepalm* I so wanted her to rock this SP full-out, but she still did a good job. I think her PCS should have been slightly higher though. My fingers are crossed for her to pull out a good LP too. She's such a joy to watch...

Ksenia: Another strong performance. I really like the choreography of her SP and she delivered the program well. Ksenia has had it pretty tough this year but kudos to her for turning in a good program. I'm not a fan of her LP but, for her sake, I hope she skates it well. With Liza T, Adelina and the others coming up, this could be her last trip to worlds...

Elene: Brian is having a good effect on her. She seemed very confident and performed with a lot of energy. Shame about the 2a; I think she got excited and forgot to focus. Elene has the ability to be a contender: she's fast, her jumps are big and her spins are solid...plus when she skates like that she has a sparkle about her. I'm glad to see her finally getting herself together. Kudos to Brian for turning her around...

Ashley: She must have psyched herself out for that opening combo. She rushed it and over-jumped it and that cost her a lot. I thought she performed the rest of the program very well though. Given her transitions, choreography, spins and her overall level of performance, I think she was underscored; I think around 58 would have been fair. The good news for Ashley is she is a strong LP skater and can make up a lot of ground. She's not out of contention; a 4CC-like performance could land her on the podium or close to it. I'm still hopeful for her chances here...

Alissa: Goodness, that was devastating to watch. I didn't think she was going to be great here or even good, but I didn't think she would literally fall apart at the seams like that. That was painful to watch. She's been getting worse and worse all season long...all of that confidence from last season is gone and I think a lot of it has to do with expectation. The pressure of competing coupled with the pressure of people expecting her to skate well seems to have crushed her completely this season. I hope she redeems herself with a solid LP but (obviously) a top 5 finish is out of the question...right now all we can do is pray that somehow she can crack the top 10.

A lot of disappointing skating and scoring all around. I'm pretty confident that there will be a complete rearrangement of the standings by the time everything is said and done. I still expect the top 4 to be some combination of Carolina, Akiko, Mao and Ashley, with Kanako and Alena battling for 5th...

Alyssa could have been scored even lower too imho. I honestly don't see how Kostner or Mukami deserved to beat Leonova. Really I don't see any of the skaters worthy of world gold otther than Alyssa, Ashley or Mao if they are on because Carolina has never been in my mind a real champion without the lutz. Asquared (Ash and Aly are out of gold contention now probably) so it is up to Mao. But Alena deserves a medal; for years Carolina has been the lucky one and gotten medals left and right despite some awful skates so I think Alena deserves one too.

When she saw her scores, she was disappointed, but she sort of brushed it off, like "OK, not my best, but I did OK. Moving on." She did not dwell on them. I think she's already looking forward to the FS and she knows that she has the content to pull off a big score.

Also today, she could have given up after that step out, but she fought for every element. Expect a similar effort on Saturday.

Oh I totally agree. I only made the point to illustrate how difficult it would be for the US to lose a spot. You really have to work hard to lose the second spot, and Alissa didn't work hard enough to lose it.